A Noteworthy Day
by TacoKing23
Summary: Aeris is returning to Nibelheim for a visit, and Cloud asks Tifa to give her a note for him. When she does, things take an unexpected turn. AU angsty fluff. Sequel to A Gift for the Flower Girl.
1. Cloud's Plan

**Same AU as A Gift for the Flower Girl.  
**

* * *

"Hey, Tifa?"

The girl in question turned away from her piano, focusing on the source of the voice. Her longtime friend and neighbor, Cloud Strife, sat on her bed, previously listening to her practice. She eyed the spiky-haired blond curiously, wondering why he had interrupted her. He didn't do so very often.

"What's up?" she asked, turning on the bench to face him fully.

The boy picked at his sleeve absently, not making eye contact with Tifa. The young martial artist rolled her eyes at his disinterested act, the recently-developed affectation annoying her. She started debating whether to slap him in the head to get him to spit out whatever he wanted to say, when he finally spoke up.

"Aeris is going to be back in town soon, right?"

Tifa blinked in surprise, not expecting him to mention the travelling flower seller. _How did he know about that?_

"Uh, yeah," she replied, "She'll be here this afternoon, actually. Why?"

In response, the boy pulled an envelope out of his pocket and held it out to her.

"Could I ask you to give this to her for me? It's pretty important."

The fighter accepted the envelope and examined it, turning it over in her hands. There was nothing remarkable about it. Nothing was written on it except, "Aeris," across the front.

"What is it?" the confused girl asked, "And why can't you give it to her yourself?"

"It's a list," Cloud explained, his disinterested persona slipping, "I had talked to her on the phone about getting a bunch of flowers for my mom's birthday. She told me to make a list of what I needed, so I did. And I can't give it to her, because I have to go make other arrangements for Mom's gifts and cake and everything. I'd have started earlier, but I couldn't miss your piano practice. It's our tradition."

Tifa blinked again, surprised at the unusually thorough explanation. Since he had started acting "cool," Cloud generally didn't speak more than one or two sentences at a time. _Though I suppose if there's any reason he'd want to break his stupid act, it _would_ be his mom…_

Breaking from her thoughts, the fighter nodded slightly. "I can do it, I guess," she announced, as if it would be some great chore to hand over the envelope. Cloud rolled his eyes at her.

"Yeah, thanks," he drawled, "Just make sure to keep it in your pants long enough to actually give her the note."

Tifa's face lit up at the comment, the redness in her cheeks rivaling that in her eyes. She started spluttering incoherently as her friend watched with amusement. As he started to laugh, she jumped up from the piano bench and knocked him off the bed.

"You shut up!" she demanded, pulling a pillow from the bed to beat him with, "You don't know what you're talking about!"

"The whole town knows what I'm talking about!" the boy retorted from behind his crossed arms, protecting his head and face from the brawler's pillowy wrath, "Your crush on her has been getting more and more obvious since you gave her that flower two months ago!"

Abruptly, the assault stopped. Cloud cautiously spread his arms to check on his friend, and quickly decided he probably shouldn't have. Tifa stood over him, glaring, her face so red he could actually see waves of heat emanating from it.

"Uh, Tifa?" he asked nervously.

She responded by lunging down at him and grabbing fistfuls of his shirt. He squealed as she hauled him up, wrapping him around her shoulders like a squirming shawl. His protests and demands to be put down went ignored as she carried him out of her room and down the stairs, her mother laughing as they passed her in the dining room. As they came to the front door, Tifa opened it with one hand before grabbing her captive with both.

Not wanting to actually harm her friend, Tifa swung him off her shoulders and rolled him out the door like a bowling ball, instead of hurling him like a rock. "Go do your errands, jerk!" she yelled after him.

Rising dizzily to his feet after three complete head-over-heels rotations, Cloud looked back to the embarrassed girl.

"What about the note?" he asked, "I still need you to deliver it." He looked down to his sock-clad feet. "And my boots are still in your house."

He barely looked up in time to dodge the first boot, but the movement placed him right in the path of the other. It bounced off his forehead as the enraged brawler replied.

"Take your stupid boots and go do whatever you need to do!" she shouted, "And don't worry about the stupid list. I like your mom; I'm not going to screw up her birthday just because _you're_ an ass. I'll give Aeris the message." She crossed her arms. "Now get out of here!"

Cloud flinched when she slammed the door, then set about putting his boots on. He made sure to keep the satisfied smile off his face until he had actually turned away from the house. His plan had worked perfectly (except for the part where he got tossed out like a bag of garbage), so now all he had to do was wait for Tifa to hand over that letter. He could deliver the actual list of flowers to Aeris later.

* * *

**Cloud is devious, though he clearly hasn't managed to plan for everything. ****This chapter is shorter than I would like, but considering this whole story was originally intended to be a one-shot, I'll allow it.**


	2. Realizations and Aeris' Return

After a highly amused interrogation from her mother, who had asked her to be more careful with breakable things like doors and people, Tifa returned to her room to continue fuming about her stupid, spiky-haired best friend. _Stupid hair didn't even shift when I threw him out. His head still looked like the ass-end of a chocobo._

She continued grumbling silently to herself, tightly hugging the pillow she had attacked him with as she sat, curled up in the middle of her bed. As time passed, her thoughts shifted from irritation at Cloud to worry about what he had said. _The whole town knows? That has to be an exaggeration. _Her fists clenched, squeezing the pillow, nearly tearing it open. _But what if people _do_ know? Oh god, what if _she_ knows?_ She shook her head. _No, she would have said something about it. She's honest about everything. _A soft, derisive laugh escaped her throat. _At least one of us is._

The frustrated teen growled at herself. Self-loathing was hardly constructive, but she couldn't help feeling it at the moment. It was her own fault she was in this mess, after all. She was the one who couldn't rein in her stupid emotions, and allowed them to get worse over time.

Back when she had given Aeris that flower, she didn't understand what she had been feeling. Afterwards, the girls had spent much more time together, with Aeris returning to Nibelheim much more frequently. It had taken Tifa about two weeks to figure out that she was having romantic feelings for the flower girl, and the realization confused and scared the hell out of her. As such, she determined that she needed to keep those feelings in check, and tried to reshape them into something more like a normal friendship. Unfortunately, she completely failed at that, her romantic feelings constantly growing stronger.

It didn't help that the emerald-eyed beauty was forever _touching_ her. Whether it be holding hands, or giving hugs, or even simpler things like their arms brushing as they walked, or knees bumping when they sat too close together, there was always some form of physical contact. As much as the fighter enjoyed it, it also drove her mad. She just wanted things to go back to normal.

_But is that really what I want? And were things ever really normal to begin with?_ She considered this grimly. _Chocobo-head is right, I do have a huge crush on her. But how _long _have I had a crush on her? I know it started before I gave her the flower…_ She thought back as far as she could, remembering the first time she had met the flower girl, nearly a year ago. To her dismay, she recalled a then-confusing spark of _something_ in her chest at the sight of the auburn-haired girl._ God, this is depressing. Has it really just been the entire time I've known her? _The weight of the revelation knocked her on her back, her bed creaking as she flopped backward. _I am pathetic._

The depressed girl was startled from her thoughts by a vibration against her leg, followed by the sound of piano music she had written and recorded herself. It was what she had set as the flower girl's ringtone. Before she could stop herself, her hand dove into the pocket of her shorts, grabbed her ringing phone, accepted the call, and raised the device to her face. _Aw, crap._

"Uh, hello?" she asked hesitantly.

"Hi, Tifa!" came the cheerful call from the other end of the line.

"Aeris," the troubled fighter replied, just managing to keep her voice level, "What's up?"

"Not too much, except that I'm standing outside your front door! Get out here!"

From downstairs, Tifa heard a silly pattern being knocked on the front door. She laughed quietly when, after a moment, she heard her mother answer the door, only for the flower girl's voice to echo her protests through the phone. Aeris demanded the door be shut so she could knock until Tifa answered it.

"Hey, hey!" the fighter called, getting the older girl's attention, "Leave my poor mother alone, she doesn't need your knocking driving her bonkers."

"Then I suggest you get outside quickly!" Aeris shot back. Before Tifa could reply, she heard the sound of the flower girl's phone snapping shut, followed by the continuation of her ridiculous knocking from downstairs. The brawler stared at her phone for a moment, laughing in disbelief. _Funny how one person can get me down in the dumps, then drag me right back out into the sun. _

She hopped off her bed excitedly, running down the stairs three at a time. She very nearly skipped through the dining room, catching a raised eyebrow from her mother, who was sitting at the table with a teacup in hand.

"Your mood has certainly improved," the older woman commented with a smirk.

Tifa looked back at her, torn between responding to the comment and responding to Aeris' incessant knocking.

"Huh?" she eventually blurted.

"Well," her mother explained, that questionable smirk still in place, "You've been upstairs brooding for the last twenty minutes, before which you hurled Cloud out the front door. Now you're practically glowing." Her smirk grew. "I'm just saying, it seems like a pretty sudden change."

"Uhh… I don't-"

"Now, now," the elder Lockheart interjected, "You'd better hurry outside. I wouldn't want your girlfriend to knock a hole in our door by way of erosion."

At that, Tifa lit up like a tomato.

"She's not-!"

"Ah, ah! Shoo! Hurry up, the noise is actually starting to annoy me."

Frowning deeply against the burning blush in her face, the young martial artist about-faced and marched to the front door, yanking it open as soon as it was in reach. She found Aeris crouched on the ground, hands still extended to what was now Tifa's shins. After a moment of confused silence, the girl popped up to her feet, acting as though nothing odd had happened. Tifa just stared at her.

"… Were you knocking on the bottom of the door?" the confused fighter asked suddenly.

"I'm pretty sure I knocked on every part of the door, actually," the shorter girl cheerfully replied, before donning an expression of mock-annoyance, "_Someone_ certainly gave me enough time to do so."

"Yeah, well, my mom decided she needed to _have a talk _with me."

The red-faced teen glared back over her shoulder at her mother, who smirked and tipped her cup before taking a loud sip from it. Tifa shook her head and turned back to her friend.

"Come on, let's get out of here," she half-growled.

"Okay!" Aeris replied, waving over Tifa's shoulder "Bye, Mrs. Lockheart!"

The woman gave a small return wave, just before her daughter slammed the door.

* * *

**Seems like T****ifa just can't catch a break today. I love how much of a dork Aeris is, though.  
**


	3. Bad Jokes and Delivered Notes

The two teens walked in silence for a bit, heading nowhere in particular except away from Tifa's house. The fighter clomped along with her arms crossed, glaring straight ahead. Aeris watched with some concern, wanting to cheer up her friend, but not quite sure where to start. She hadn't seen Tifa quite so aggravated before. Eventually, she decided to try what she thought was a comedic approach.

"So," she started, getting her friend's attention, "I don't think I'll knock on the bottom part of the door next time."

Confusion overtook the brawler's features.

"Uh, why not?" she asked.

"Well," the flower girl explained, "it was great fun while I was by myself, but then you actually opened the door. Then it was like, 'Oh, hello Tifa's crotch, how are you today?'"

She ended her explanation with a dopey grin, expecting a surprised laugh from the taller girl. When she got nothing of the sort, she turned to find the brawler had stopped walking several paces back, her face burning red. As soon as their eyes met, Tifa quickly turned away, hiding behind her long hair as she moved to catch up to her friend.

"Come on," she said as she passed Aeris, who watched her friend's unexpected reaction with worry.

"Tifa, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, let's go."

"No!"

Surprised, Tifa stopped and turned to find Aeris glaring at her. _What now?_

"Tifa, I know something is wrong," the flower girl declared, "and I'm not going to stand here and let you lie about it. It's not _nothing_. I'm your friend, Tifa. I care about you. Tell me what's wrong so I can help you."

The fighter stared at her blankly for several long moments. When the sundress-clad girl showed no sign of wavering, she gave a deep sigh. _God, she's usually so pleasant and agreeable, I completely forgot she had a stubborn side._

"Do we have to do this?" she demanded wearily.

"Yes, I think we do," Aeris responded firmly.

Tifa groaned. Talking about her feelings was not her favorite thing to do, especially as of late. Unfortunately, she didn't really have the ability to refuse a direct demand from Aeris. She gave another sigh as she prepared to give in, on one condition.

"Can we at least go to the water tower? If I have to talk about stuff, I'd rather do it somewhere comfortable."

"I agree to these terms," the older girl announced imperiously, tilting her chin up, "Let us make haste, then."

The fighter smirked at that. _The girl I've fallen for is such a dork._

The girls made the short trip in silence. Approaching the leaky old water tower, Tifa hopped onto one of the old crates at its base, sitting atop it with her legs hanging off the side. Aeris plopped down in the flowers beside her, the pale blue of her sundress both standing out and fitting in with the multicolored petals around her. There was another period of silence, with Tifa nervously bouncing her feet off the side of the crate. She gasped when the other girl stilled her legs by leaning against them and looked up at her.

"So, what's wrong?" the flower girl asked, her voice no longer firm, but soft and concerned, "Why are you so grumpy today?"

Running a hand through her hair, the martial artist took a deep breath before responding.

"I just…" she began, cutting herself off and trying again, "It's like, today, everyone has been going out of their way to embarrass me. First Cloud, then Mom, then you. It sucks."

"I didn't mean to embarrass you, you know," Aeris replied quietly, turning to hug Tifa's legs, "I was trying to make you laugh because you seemed upset. You reacted a lot differently than I thought you would."

"Yeah, well…" Tifa trailed off again, groping for the right words, "That, I can forgive, I guess. Your intentions were good. But Cloud and Mom were doing it just to mess with me, and it just upset me, you know?"

Aeris hummed in agreement, resting her head against her friend's legs. "That wasn't nice of them. What did they do?"

The fighter rolled her eyes. "Just teasing me, as usual."

"About what?"

Tifa blinked at the question. _… SHIT! SHIT! CHANGE THE SUBJECT!_

Feeling the younger girl's legs tense up, Aeris looked back up to find an envelope suddenly thrust at her face. She jerked back, silently deciding that she _really_ needed to teach her friend how to hand things to people.

"I, uh," Tifa stuttered, "I needed to give this to you."

With some confusion, the older girl took the envelope, sparing Tifa an odd glance before opening it. The fighter watched in relief as her friend carefully unfolded the sheet of paper from inside, sat back, and began to read. _Crisis averted. _She lay back on the crate and let Aeris distract herself with Cloud's list of flowers.

Perhaps two minutes later, a muffled hiccup caught her attention. Curious, she sat up in time to hear another as her gaze fell upon a wholly unexpected sight. Aeris was staring wide-eyed at the note she held in one trembling hand, the other covering her mouth as tears poured down her face. Tifa reacted without thought, dropping from the crate to kneel beside the crying girl.

"Aeris?!" she questioned frantically, "Aeris, what's wrong? What happened?" _What the _hell_ did that idiot write?!_

Slowly, the older girl turned her eyes from the paper to the girl beside her. She stared for a moment, which absolutely did _not_ help Tifa's nerves, then suddenly pounced, crying out the fighter's name and wrapping her arms around her. They ended up propped against the crate, Tifa sitting with her back against it as Aeris sobbed into her chest. Confused and deeply concerned, the dark-haired girl did her best to console her friend.

Within a few minutes, the flower girl got herself back under control. When she sat back, however, there was a wide smile on her face, to Tifa's further confusion. Before she could pull her thoughts into enough order to ask what the hell was going on, Aeris spoke.

"I'm so happy, Tifa," she said, taking the fighter's hands in her own.

"Y-uh, good?" Tifa replied, completely bewildered.

Aeris giggled through her tears, squeezing Tifa's hands gently.

"Yes, it's good," she said, "I'm just sorry you felt you had to write it down like that."

_What? _"What? Write… what are you talking about?"

Aeris gave her friend a confused look, not sure how to explain.

"I- Your letter, Tifa. It was beautiful. It made me so happy that you found the courage to express your feelings. I'm happy for you. I-I'm happy for us…"

_The letter. Cloud's note. What the hell has he done?!_

Quelling her rapidly-growing anger and seeking to confirm her sudden suspicion, the brawler kept her voice as calm a she could as she made a request.

"Uh, Aeris, do you mind if I see that letter for a sec?"

Still confused, the smaller girl retrieved the note from where she dropped it and handed it over. Accepting it carefully, Tifa closely examined it. Written on the paper was not a list of flowers or anything else. She was looking at an incredibly heartfelt and passionate love letter. From herself, to Aeris.

Putting aside the fact that her blood was on the verge of boiling in embarrassed rage, the fighter had to admit, it was a good forgery. The handwriting was only slightly off, and the signature was almost perfect. _Chocobo-ass even wrote it the way I would have! He included everything I would ever want to tell her! God dammit!_

"That sneaky _bastard…_" she breathed, her hands shaking in fury.

Aeris blinked at that, more confused now. "…Tifa?" she asked timidly.

At the sound of her name, the younger girl focused her gaze on the auburn-haired beauty in front of her. _That prick made her cry for nothing. And now I might have to make her cry again._

"Aeris," she said tonelessly, "I didn't write this."

"What?"

"The letter. I didn't write it. It's a forgery."

"What?! Who would-"

"Cloud. He told me it was a list of flowers for his mom's birthday, tricked me into giving it to you."

By this point, the flower girl was staring in open-mouthed shock.

"Why?!" she demanded, tears welling up in her eyes again.

"I don't know," Tifa growled, "He probably thought he was being either helpful or funny. I'll beat the answer out of him when I see him."

Aeris' gaze dropped to the ground between them, tears dripping onto the flowers.

"… S-so, it's not real?" she asked sadly, "None of it is true?"

Tifa blinked at that. She wasn't sure she'd ever heard someone sound so disappointed. _Aeris is… sad to think I don't love her?_

Compelled by her natural honesty, and the faint spark of hope that just ignited in her chest, the martial artist decided to correct her friend.

"It's… not that is isn't true," she said slowly, her nerves railing against the admission, "In fact, he got the whole thing completely right. He just did it without me knowing, then tricked me into giving it to you. If I had written it, it would probably be exactly the same as this one. Everything written here is true."

Again Tifa found Aeris staring at her, eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open. Fresh tears rolled slowly down her cheeks, her chest heaving with her heavy breaths. Moving once more without thought, Tifa crawled to her knees in front of her friend, and asked the question she suddenly found dominating her mind.

"Aeris, may I kiss you?"

Her response was a soft gasp, followed seconds later by a small, silent nod from the flower girl. Slowly, Tifa leaned in, cradling the girl's face in her hands, neither one breaking eye contact as the fighter's lips pressed softly, gently, against Aeris'. After a moment, the older girl's lips pressed back, each girl moving her lips against the other's, quickly finding a calm, pleasant rhythm together. Neither was sure how long the kiss lasted, but by the middle of it, both girls' eyes had drifted shut, both content to dwell on the feeling of it. Unfortunately, need for oxygen eventually forced them apart.

They parted slowly, eyelids rising languidly as the girls separated. They found, to their surprise, that Aeris had migrated onto Tifa's lap at some point, though neither could recall when. It didn't seem terribly important. So rather than discussing it, or anything at all, they sat together in contented silence. For hours, they basked quietly in the afternoon sun, and in their newly shared love for each other.

* * *

**Dude, this chapter was hard. Romance is hard. Also, I thought about including what the letter actually said, but then I thought, "Nah, screw that noise." But this is the end of the main storyline. Up next: Epilogue.  
**


	4. A Visit to the Strife Family

**And so we come to the epilogue. Enjoy.  
**

* * *

It was perhaps an hour after sunset when Cloud's mother heard a knock at the front door. Curious about who would be visiting at this hour, the blonde woman removed her apron and stepped away from the kitchen sink. Moving quickly to answer the second set of knocks, she opened the door to find a pair of teenaged girls on the other side. One was the neighbor girl, Tifa Lockheart, but the woman had to think for a moment before recalling the shorter girl's name.

"Ah, Tifa and… Aeris, was it?" she greeted them, "What can I do for you girls tonight?"

Tifa opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by her friend, who the blonde couldn't help but notice chose to lay a staying hand on the young martial artist's arm. _Oh, what's this?_

"It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Strife," the girl announced cheerfully, "We were wondering if Cloud was home? Tifa needs to speak to him."

The elder woman looked from the flower girl to Tifa, taking note of the slight blush on top of her grim expression. A degree of understanding lit the woman's mind, and she sighed softly.

"What has he done this time?" the weary mother asked.

"He decided to be helpful," the fighter replied flatly. Noting the confusion on the blonde's face, Tifa reached into the pocket of her shorts and pulled out a sheet of paper, which she extended toward Cloud's mother. "I am not the one that wrote this," she explained, "And Cloud tricked me into giving it to Aeris."

Accepting the note and turning to read it in the light spilling from the doorway, Mrs. Strife very quickly came to understand the situation. The content of the letter was quite heartwarming, but the fact that it was fake sat very poorly with her.

"Oh, my," she lamented, "You're saying Cloud wrote this?"

Wordlessly, Tifa nodded, her expression becoming more angry, despite the other girl now rubbing her back. Cloud's mother cocked an eyebrow at the sight, some of the deviousness her son had inherited bubbling to the surface.

"Well," she asked casually, "Did it work?"

Both teens gaped at her in shock, though the shorter girl's expression quickly shifted to one of bashful joy.

"It did," she replied happily, taking one of Tifa's hands in her own, "But it was awfully rude of Cloud to trick us like that. That's what Tifa wants to speak with him about."

"I see," the woman replied thoughtfully, smirking at the girls' reaction. They certainly made a cute couple. However, as a good mother, she needed to make sure her son learned from his mistakes, so she came to a decision.

"Well," she said briskly, turning toward the crimson-faced brawler "Cloud _is_ home. Tifa, feel free to discuss things with him. But please, try not to destroy anything you can't replace." Here, she turned her attention to the other girl. "Aeris, why don't you and I sit out here for a bit and talk? Tifa is practically a niece to me, so I'd like to get to know you a bit better."

She stepped out of the doorway, giving Tifa room to pass. The teens glanced at each other in surprise, before, with a shrug, the fighter walked into the house, closing the door behind her. Left outside, Aeris eyed the elder woman with a small degree of apprehension.

"Um, was there anything specific you wanted to talk about?" the girl asked unsurely.

"Ah, just one moment, dear," Mrs. Strife replied, holding up one hand in a shushing gesture. She leaned toward the house, listening for something. After a moment, Aeris imitated her, unsure of what-

"CLOUD STRIFE, YOU ASSHOLE!"

Tifa's muffled shriek startled the girl. It was followed by a loud thump, and what sounded like Cloud's panicked response.

"I was helping!" he shouted, just barely audible outside the house.

"YOU WERE AN ASSHOLE!" came the brawler's much clearer response, followed by another loud thump and what may have been the sound of wood cracking.

"Oh, god! MOM! HELP!"

"Your mommy can't help you now! NO ONE CAN!"

There was another, louder crash, and the house shook. The flower girl was slightly worried about her blond friend, but his mother seemed unconcerned. The woman simply shook her head and laughed softly. She turned to the girl.

"You'll treat her well, won't you?" she asked suddenly, smiling warmly.

Aeris blinked at the unexpected question, then blushed.

"Of course I will," she replied quietly, "She's been precious to me for a long time. I would never do anything to hurt her."

The woman's smile widened at the response. She pulled the girl into a friendly hug, laughing happily.

"Then welcome to our odd little family, Aeris. I'm sure her parents will be just as happy as I am to learn that you two have finally become a couple."

The thought put a smile on the flower girl's face as she relaxed into the embrace and returned it. She hadn't realized how nice it would feel to be welcomed into someone else's family.

Just as she was about to thank the woman for her kind sentiment, the door of the house slammed open, Tifa storming out. Despite looking somewhat disheveled, with about half her hair pulled from its signature fishtail, her expression was much more pleasant than it had been upon entering the house. She trotted up to her girlfriend, holding up an envelope, a satisfied smirk on her face.

"Here you go," she announced, tucking the envelope under one of the straps of Aeris' dress, since her hands were currently occupied.

Leaping away from Cloud's snickering mother in embarrassed surprise, the flower girl quickly yanked the envelope out of her clothing.

"What's this?" she demanded, blushing brightly at Tifa's sudden boldness.

"That," the fighter replied, "is what I thought I was giving you earlier. The _actual _list that Cloud wanted to give to you." Her smirk grew wicked. "I thought I'd deliver it for him, since he decided to be _so helpful_ this afternoon, and I was here anyway."

The flower girl looked over the plain envelope once before tucking it away in an actual pocket. _Really, Tifa... _She was about to make a comment about it when both girls found themselves wrapped in another hug, courtesy of the blonde woman whose son had just been assaulted.

"Well girls," Mrs. Strife said with a smile, "It's been fun, and I'm so happy for you, but I'd better get inside and survey the damage." She released the teens and looked to Tifa. "Was anything broken?"

"Not this time," the fighter replied unabashedly, "but there is a new hole in Cloud's closet door. I'll get you the money for it as soon as I can."

"Don't bother, sweetheart. He can live with it."

"Okay," the girl replied enthusiastically, grabbing her companion's hand, "Have a good night, then!"

With that, the dark-haired girl turned and started tugging Aeris away, Cloud's mother giving one last laugh as she closed the door.

The flower girl allowed herself to be pulled along merrily for a short time, before she realized she wasn't being led to the inn she had intended to stay at tonight. Confused, she determined that Tifa appeared to be leading her to the house beside Cloud's: The Lockheart residence.

"Uh, Tifa?" the puzzled girl questioned, "Where are we going?"

"My house!" the brawler replied cheerfully, "We're having a sleepover!"

The older girl blushed brightly at the implications of that.

"Um," she said uncertainly, "I mean, I know we've liked each other for a while, but shouldn't we wait a little while before we get… physical? We just started dating this afternoon."

The taller girl stopped so abruptly that the flower girl walked straight into her back. Aeris watched her curiously, unsure what she'd do next. Suddenly, the fighter spun to face her, cheeks very nearly glowing red. Her mouth bobbed open and shut repeatedly, apparently trying and failing to form words. The shorter girl got worried; it didn't sound like her companion was breathing.

"Tifa?"

"I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!" the brawler cried, "I was talking about a normal sleepover! With separate sleeping areas and everything!"

"… Oh," Aeris replied simply, cringing at her ringing ears. She was a little embarrassed that she had jumped to conclusions (though she felt a small, unexpected twinge of disappointment that she had been wrong, which she filed away for later examination), so she took the lead and pulled the mortified fighter along.

"In that case," she chirped playfully, "let's get moving! We've got a great day behind us and a fun night ahead. Don't wanna be late!"

As Tifa was pulled along to her own house, she couldn't help but agree, her embarrassed expression shifting to a wide smile. They had the first of what she hoped would be a great many fun nights ahead of them, and she didn't want to miss a single second.

* * *

**And so it ends. This story ended up almost three times longer than I intended it to be. Perhaps there will be more in this AU later, but for now I am spent. If you've read this far, thanks.  
**


End file.
